Moving East

It has been a crazy week full of ups and downs.

I had to make an unplanned and unfortunate trip to the capital this past week to spend some quality time with the PC Medical Staff. I came down with a fever on Monday and it was continuing to climb upwards of 103 Tuesday morning when I was directed to head into the capital. I had a number of blood tests done to in order to determine whether I had Dengue, H1N1, Mono or any number of other potential illnesses. Once I was cleared of all these and it was decided that I simply had a nagging virus and was not dying or highly contagious, I was put up in a local pensión that PCVs often call home while in the capital.

My 2.5 days in the pensión were very bittersweet. I was ill and feeling miserable. I was back in the very hot and very humid capital. I was missing all the technical and language training in the mountains. But at the same time I had AC, cable TV and a hot shower. It was hard to feel quite so bad knowing that CNN, Seinfeld or Sportscenter were one click away. Once my fever finally dipped down to around the 100 mark on Thursday, I was able to make the trip back up the mountain to Constanza.

What awaited me in Constanza was a whirlwind 24 hours in which I learned where it is I will be living for the next 2 years. Our boss paid us a visit on Friday morning to give us all the preliminary details of the sites we will be moving to and the projects we will begin working on at the end of the month. The only true nerves/anxiety/shit-my-pants fear I have had in this entire Peace Corps process has been over site placement. Where you go and who you work with can have positive or negative effects on service. Ultimately, as a volunteer, you have to make it work no matter where you are or who you are working with. But having a good site with positive project partners is a big plus.

Our boss went one-by-one through each of our fifteen placements and gave us the basics as to where we're going, what we'll be focusing on, why we were placed there, etc. We then got to see a map of the DR with thumbtacks representing all the Youth volunteers in their respective sites. I'm heading out East and couldn't be more excited about it. I will be living in a barrio in the pueblo of El Seibo. There is another Youth volunteer in the same city and he was instrumental in setting up the site I will be working in. There are 3 others from my training group heading to the east and a handful of current volunteers living there already.

What I know of the east (almost nothing) is that it is fairly flat and agricultural. Not unlike the Midwest but in a tropical way, with sugar cane and pineapple in place of corn and beans. My city has pretty good access to electricity and water, which is a plus. It's about 2.5-3 hours from the capital by bus. It's hot (Naturally). Great beaches and some places as yet untouched by all-inclusive resorts and droves of tourists. And best of all, a great project site with an eager project partner. I can't wait to head out there for my first visit in just under 3 weeks.

It was hard to concentrate on much of anything after the emotional high that was learning of our sites. The anticipation had been building for weeks and then was released with one glimpse of a map. We had to turn around quickly and host a talent show Friday night. It was put on for our host families and community members who have made us feel at home here in our barrio of Constanza for the past 3 weeks. We sang. We danced. There were puppets, bad Spanish jokes and Michael Jackson impersonators involved. The Dominicans loved it. Plus, the baker extraordinaire of our group baked cookies, which was the cherry on top of a long day.

I've had a pretty roller coaster week. They weren't lying when they said the Peace Corps was about peaks and valleys. As usual, everything at the end of the day is fantastic. I know where I'll be living for the next 24 months. I am pretty well back to health. And I still have 2 more weeks to enjoy here in Constanza.